Right-to-work impact on union training unclear

Sam Griesbach of Greenville, an apprentice welder with Team Industries, welds a piece of pipe Wednesday at the Plumbers & Steamfitters United Association Local 400 training center in Kaukauna.(Photo: Nathan Phelps/Press-Gazette Media)Buy Photo

KAUKAUNA – Officials with Plumbers & Steamfitters United Association Local 400 in Kaukauna say it's unclear exactly what impact passage of a right-to-work bill will have on funding for education of skilled workers in Wisconsin.

But they expressed concerns passage of the bill could lead to lower wages and have a wider economic impact on the region.

"The reality is the lower the training a person has, the lower wage a person will be," Jim Clark, the welding coordinator with UA 400, said Wednesday. "You're not going to get highly trained people to work for a lower wage.

The right-to-work bill bans requirements for nonunion members in the private sector to pay union dues. UA 400 uses a portion of those dues to provide union training to workers.

Clark said the local has a budget of about $2 million a year, funded by union contributions.

"If people choose to not pay those (dues), the training has to go down or you have to increase the assessment for members who are paying it for people who are not," he said. "We're only ankle deep into what the legal obligations are, but that's where we are with it now."

Team Industries, a pipe fabricator with a location in Kaukauna, is one of the businesses working with UA 400.

"The people we get start out entry level and we work with the union to get them trained up to journeyman's level and fulfill our employment needs," said Mike Schmidt of Team Industries. "Most of our shop has been through programs here."

Union members around the state contend the right-to-work bill will weaken unions, leading to lower wages and unsafe workplaces.

Supporters maintain the change will make Wisconsin more competitive with other states and allow workers to decide if they want to pay union dues rather than have them deducted automatically.

Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Allouez, voted in favor of the bill last week.

"I firmly believe that every worker in our state should have the freedom to choose whether or not they want to join a union, and their career should not be limited by that choice," he said in a news release.

During an unexpected moment at Wednesday's news conference at UA 400's Kaukauna training facility, business owner Jeff Van Asten took to the podium to express his views about the bill.

"I'm all for a right-to-work law," he said. "It's going to make the unions accountable for who they send us contractors for union help. We've had a lot of problems... I will not hire a union pipefitter to this day."

Van Asten said he is president of Accurate Mechanical Contractors in Kaukauna.

The bill passed the Senate last week and if it is changed, the Senate would need to vote again. Gov. Scott Walker has said he will sign the bill into law.

"This is going to be an experiment and we're going to see where it ends up," Clark said. "The Legislature basically had no interest in listening to all the constituents that were (in Madison) and they went with the option they thought is the correct way to go.

"We'll see five years from now if it's the correct way or not," he said.

— The Associated Press

— nphelps@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter @nathanphelpsPG or on Facebook at Nathan Phelps Press-Gazette